Job 41-42

New International Version

41 ^[a]“Can you pull in Leviathan^(A) with a fishhook^(B)
    or tie down its tongue with a rope?
²Can you put a cord through its nose^(C)
    or pierce its jaw with a hook?^(D)
³Will it keep begging you for mercy?^(E)
    Will it speak to you with gentle words?
⁴Will it make an agreement with you
    for you to take it as your slave for life?^(F)
⁵Can you make a pet of it like a bird
    or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
⁶Will traders barter for it?
    Will they divide it up among the merchants?
⁷Can you fill its hide with harpoons
    or its head with fishing spears?^(G)
⁸If you lay a hand on it,
    you will remember the struggle and never do it again!^(H)
⁹Any hope of subduing it is false;
    the mere sight of it is overpowering.^(I)
¹⁰No one is fierce enough to rouse it.^(J)
    Who then is able to stand against me?^(K)
¹¹Who has a claim against me that I must pay?^(L)
    Everything under heaven belongs to me.^(M)

¹²“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,^(N)
    its strength^(O) and its graceful form.
¹³Who can strip off its outer coat?
    Who can penetrate its double coat of armor^[b]?^(P)
¹⁴Who dares open the doors of its mouth,^(Q)
    ringed about with fearsome teeth?
¹⁵Its back has^[c] rows of shields
    tightly sealed together;^(R)
¹⁶each is so close to the next
    that no air can pass between.
¹⁷They are joined fast to one another;
    they cling together and cannot be parted.
¹⁸Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
    its eyes are like the rays of dawn.^(S)
¹⁹Flames^(T) stream from its mouth;
    sparks of fire shoot out.
²⁰Smoke pours from its nostrils^(U)
    as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
²¹Its breath^(V) sets coals ablaze,
    and flames dart from its mouth.^(W)
²²Strength^(X) resides in its neck;
    dismay goes before it.
²³The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
    they are firm and immovable.
²⁴Its chest is hard as rock,
    hard as a lower millstone.^(Y)
²⁵When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;^(Z)
    they retreat before its thrashing.^(AA)
²⁶The sword that reaches it has no effect,
    nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.^(AB)
²⁷Iron it treats like straw^(AC)
    and bronze like rotten wood.
²⁸Arrows do not make it flee;^(AD)
    slingstones are like chaff to it.
²⁹A club seems to it but a piece of straw;^(AE)
    it laughs^(AF) at the rattling of the lance.
³⁰Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
    leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.^(AG)
³¹It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron^(AH)
    and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.^(AI)
³²It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
    one would think the deep had white hair.
³³Nothing on earth is its equal^(AJ)—
    a creature without fear.
³⁴It looks down on all that are haughty;^(AK)
    it is king over all that are proud.^(AL)”

Job

42 Then Job replied to the Lord:

²“I know that you can do all things;^(AM)
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.^(AN)
³You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’^(AO)
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.^(AP)

⁴“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’^(AQ)
⁵My ears had heard of you^(AR)
    but now my eyes have seen you.^(AS)
⁶Therefore I despise myself^(AT)
    and repent^(AU) in dust and ashes.”^(AV)

Epilogue

⁷After the Lord had said these things to Job^(AW), he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends,^(AX) because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.^(AY) ⁸So now take seven bulls and seven rams^(AZ) and go to my servant Job^(BA) and sacrifice a burnt offering^(BB) for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer^(BC) and not deal with you according to your folly.^(BD) You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”^(BE) ⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite^(BF) did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.^(BG)

¹⁰After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes^(BH) and gave him twice as much as he had before.^(BI) ¹¹All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before^(BJ) came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him,^(BK) and each one gave him a piece of silver^[d] and a gold ring.

¹²The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. ¹³And he also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

¹⁶After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷And so Job died, an old man and full of years.^(BL)

Footnotes

Job 41:1 In Hebrew texts 41:1-8 is numbered 40:25-32, and 41:9-34 is numbered 41:1-26.
Job 41:13 Septuagint; Hebrew double bridle
Job 41:15 Or Its pride is its
Job 42:11 Hebrew him a kesitah; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.

Psalm 101:5-8

New International Version

⁵Whoever slanders their neighbor^(A) in secret,
I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes^(B) and a proud heart,
I will not tolerate.

⁶My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
the one whose walk is blameless^(C)
will minister to me.

⁷No one who practices deceit
will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely
will stand in my presence.

⁸Every morning^(D) I will put to silence
all the wicked^(E) in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer^(F)
from the city of the Lord.^(G)

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Proverbs 23:31-35

New International Version

³¹Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup,
    when it goes down smoothly!
³²In the end it bites like a snake
    and poisons like a viper.
³³Your eyes will see strange sights,
    and your mind will imagine confusing things.
³⁴You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
    lying on top of the rigging.
³⁵“They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
    They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
    so I can find another drink?”^(A)

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1 Corinthians 7:1-19

New International Version

Concerning Married Life

7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”^(A) ²But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. ³The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife,^(B) and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. ⁵Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time,^(C) so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan^(D) will not tempt you^(E) because of your lack of self-control. ⁶I say this as a concession, not as a command.^(F) ⁷I wish that all of you were as I am.^(G) But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.^(H)

⁸Now to the unmarried^[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.^(I) ⁹But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,^(J) for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.^(K) ¹¹But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.^(L) And a husband must not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord):^(M) If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.^(N)

¹⁵But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.^(O) ¹⁶How do you know, wife, whether you will save^(P) your husband?^(Q) Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Concerning Change of Status

¹⁷Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.^(R) This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.^(S) ¹⁸Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.^(T) ¹⁹Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.^(U) Keeping God’s commands is what counts.